Remembering the winter that was

In sub-zero temperatures, the Rock River through downtown Janesville sends up a cloud of steam over West. Milwaukee Street from its relatively warm waters.

Bill Olmsted / photo@gazettextra.com

Bliss Communications maintenance worker Joe Villa shows the results of working outdoors in -17 degree weather. Villa was clearing drifted snow from the walkways around the downtown Janesville building early on Jan. 6.

Bill Olmsted / bolmsted@gazettexra.com

Water vapor hits the frigid air and condenses, making a chilly cloud for employees of the Janesville Water Department fixing a broken main at the corner of Kennedy Road and Barberry Drive on Janesville's north side in January.

Bill Olmsted/billolmsted@gazettextra.com

An electronic sign on Milton Ave. displays a noontime temperature of negative 16 degrees but it's the flag in the background that really tells the weather story. Winds in the 20 mph range takes an unpleasant temperature and quickly turns the outdoors into a potentially dangerous environment. 01-06-14 /Gazette File Photo

Bill Olmsted / bolmsted@gazettextra.com

With warmer weather and rain in the forecast, city of Janesville workers were out on the city's northeast side clearing deep snow off of storm drains Jan. 9.

Dan Lassiter/dlassiter@gazettextra.com

John Whitmore of JR Snow Plowing hand spreads salt on the icy parking lot at Perfectly Plus Consignment in Janesville on Jan. 11

BY THE NUMBERS

Janesville had an exceptional winter.

A near-record number of snowfalls meant snowplows scraped and salted streets regularly.

Bitter cold kept kids home from school and froze water pipes, meaning people had to keep their water running, boosting city water usage.

Here are what some of the numbers from city and school officials indicate:

Water usage

Winter of 2013-14: 1,158 million gallons

Average of prior two years: 1,044 million gallons

Water mains repaired

Winter of 2013-14: 123

Average of prior two years: 47

Tons of road salt used

Winter of 2013-14: 8,700

Average of prior three years: 5,614

Spent on snow removal

Winter of 2013-14: $1.58 million

Average: $1.2 million

Days of school canceled

Winter of 2013-14: 4

Average: 2

JANESVILLE—We all know it was a bad winter.

Not in terms of the amount of snow, but in terms of cold and the relentless drag of gray skies that signaled another round of snow, freezing rain, rain or some new cocktail including all of the above.

Although there's no index to measure weather-generated misery, this winter's severity can be measured by tangibles such as tons of road salt, water main breaks, plowing costs and even water usage.

That's not to mention school days. Most school districts racked up four or five days off because of severe weather. In a usual year, districts have one or two.

We asked public works officials for a winter round up from their communities.

--Janesville: Operations Director John Whitcomb reported that, taking into account the salt the city will need to buy and some other expected expenses, the departments is about $250,000 over-expended for 2014.

During an average winter, Whitcomb explained, the city tries to budget for seven plowing operations, 18 chemical spreading operations, three downtown snow removals and 4,000 tons of salt.

That's based on a winter with about 36 inches of snow.

The city also tracks the number of full and partial plowing operations and full and partial salting operations. For the three prior winters, the average number of all types of operations was 25. For the winter of 2013-2014, there were 52 operations.

Now consider this: In an average winter, Janesville's Water Utility staff respond to about 47 water main breaks. This year, that number rose to 123, an increase of 162 percent.

--Orfordville: A resident in the 600 block of West Beloit Street had his water lateral freeze three separate times, according to minutes from a March 24 village board meeting.

The first time it froze for one day; the second time, three days; the third time, 17 days.

The resident told officials he had let the water run as instructed.

Orfordville Director of Public Works Karl Stuvengen told officials at the meeting that 12 other laterals had frozen in the village.

Residents kept their water on, resulting in a jump in water usage from 13.5 million gallons to 14.8 million gallons. Plowing expenses went from $8,500 to $13,100.

--Beloit: The city's plowing expenses went from an average of $251,490 to $589,292. In a usual winter, about 30 water mains break. This winter, city workers dealt with 136 water main breaks or frozen laterals.

--Town of Beloit: The town saw its plowing expense more than double, going from $11,069 during an average winter to $27,395 this winter. The amount of road salt used went from 150 tons to 268 tons.

--Clinton: Roger Johnson has been Clinton public works director for 25 years.

In all those years, there has never been a water service “freeze up.” This winter, the village had five.

The department usually salts the streets but doesn't plow unless there's a significant snow.

“We probably plowed three times as much this year,” Johnson said. “It was too cold; the salt wouldn't work.”

The department spent an estimated $8,700 in overtime for the 2013-2014 season. That compares to about $4,450 during 2012-2013.

-- Milton: Administrator Jerry Schuetz said the city has seen “anywhere between 25 percent to 30 percent increase in costs this winter, year to date, with November/December of 2014 left to go.”

That includes a “modest increase” in this year's budget for sand and salt.

Milton had to deal with six water main breaks and six frozen laterals, which were a new issue, Schuetz said.

-- Walworth County: In an average winter, the county spends about $1.97 million on plowing. This year, that amount was $2.85 million. The amount of road salt used went from 22,700 tons to 30,388 tons.

--Whitewater: Whitewater Streets and Parks Superintendent Chuck Nass said the city saw a 48 percent increase in spending compared to the last three years due to the high volume of plowing, sanding and staff hours.

The city asked residents to keep their water running to help prevent main breaks. In exchange, the city agreed to subsidize the cost of extra water.

It helped, but the city still had six more water main breaks than usual, Nass said.

It's been a long winter.

“I am proud of my staff as well as the other city departments for the work we all have done over this past winter season,” Nass said.